Delegate Experience

Much of the delegate experience starts with the location of the state delegation hotel.  A well-situated hotel makes it easy to get around to events and activities.  In contrast a distant hotel requires spending a lot of time on transportation to and fro.  For the Milwaukee convention, the Texas delegation was too big (and not high enough on the priority list) for the Milwaukee hotels, and they were put up in Madison, requiring a 90-minute commute each way.  Delegates are busy.  They had the official convention programming at Fiserve, plus a choice among dozens and dozens of events organized by various interest groups each day.  See the Master Calendar (Final Version) [PDF].  There was a lot of activity within the security perimeter, centering around Convention Fest, but many organizations did events around Milwaukee.  Organizing an interest group reception or a delegation's morning breakfast or successful trip for an entire state delegation takes a lot of planning and preparation (+).